FOR ALL WE SHARED

Label boss Malcolm Parker and myself know that although we both enjoy progressive rock, we do not always share the same opinion as to what is good and to what is not. It has been a long time since he started telling me that Mostly Autumn were one of the best bands around, but it took me a long time to get any CDs out of him as they were doing so well. So it was with some trepidation that I put their debut album on the player, and upon looking in the booklet noticed that there were eight people in the band! There aren't many bands on Cyclops that boast a violinist and also someone playing low whistles and high whistles.

First up is "Nowhere To Hide (Close My Eyes)", which has an introduction of harmony vocals. This is followed by gentle instrumentation which leads into a rock number which sounds just like latter day Horslips, very definitely a good start. They use mostly twin harmony vocals, although Bryan's voice is more powerful than Heather's. Nevertheless, they are more than just a Celtic rock band. "The Last Climb" is nothing but pure Floyd, from 'Wish You Were Here' era, while "Folklore" shows that Bob Faulds would be quite prepared to have a battle with Ric Sanders. Much of the music is a melting pot, as the band bring together many styles. Malcolm describes them as Celtic Rock meeting Pink Floyd and that is probably as good a description as any, although it doesn't do them justice. What it does mean is that they have managed to capture a sound that is going to appeal to a great many listeners.

Feedback #59, July 2000